Last year wasn’t the best one for my blogging. I had ideas but no desire to make it happen. But at least we travelled more than before. And enjoyed it us much as we could. Let’s talk about where we were for the last month or so of 2015.
Some things changed last year – my hair, ma tattoos, our dwelling… Jiří got a project in Munich so we moved. We’ve been here since the start of summer and stayed in 5 different flats. In a huge house with some roommates, in a tiny two storeyed bungalow for uni students, in a small but lovely flat, in a modern-ish flat with a kitchen appliances older than we are, and here – in a spacial flat on the 5th floor of an old house with a wooden creaky staircase. But before we moved here, we had spent some time abroad. We went to Austrian Innsbruck and Salzburg and our beloved London. Both of the alpine cities are worth a visit. I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy the view of the magnicifient Alps and splendid architecture. You should try some strudel, but don’t expect too much when it comes to coffee.
INNSBRUCK
SALZBURG
Two days (or three, it depends on where you’re from) before Christmas we flew from Brno to London. First, we had to get from Munich to Moravia – it’s about 650 km and we had just one short stop. Why? Our car decided to had some fun and stopped working properly right when you need to leave. Thankfully we made it just in time for a nice plate of goulash for dinner. Between pre-Christmas lunch (schnitzel with potato salad) in Citov and schnitzel “sandwich” in London we stopped for a snack in Brno – bramboráky (potato pancakes), trdelník (grilled sweet pastry), svařák (mulled wine), punč (punch) and hot chocolate with some rum… And for coffee, ’cause they have awesome coffee in Brno!
Welcome to London, b*tch! Oh I missed it so much. Fish&chips, ready-to-eat meals from a supermarket, huge bottles of milk, sandwiches and smoothies everywhere, nice coffee, weird people, English speaking people, English written books, English in public transport, separate taps, rain, museums for free, overpriced ice rinks, heavy (metal) red bikes, non-smelly buses, smelly undergrounds, exotic food, beer without a head, cuppa, postcards with the Queen and Banksy t-shirts, sweaters, posters, magnets, pictures, Oyster covers and sometimes even on walls… That’s London. When we were in one tiny bistro on Columbia Road, a blue-haired girl said hallo to me and Jiří told me afterwards: “I understand why you like it so much in here… You’re not the only one weird.” 🙂 And he’s right. That’s why I love it so much in here. London is a place where anyone can feel at home. Even a bear who likes marmelade.
St Paul
Columbia Road
Oh we enjoyed our British Christmas a lot. We bought some sliced turkey breast, cranberry & port sauce, mashed potatoes and salad. Evethough we ate it few days later because we went for a walk on 24th and 25th, we liked it. Thanks to crackers package of six we have two mini brain-teasers, a cheap tweezer, golf tees, a tiny little notebook and some other rubbish.
Leadenhall Market
To see the New Year’s Eve fireworks we went to Hampsted Heath where you can see everything from Canary Wharf to the west part of the city. It was so nice but the best part was when people started to sing Auld Lang Syne and everyone said Happy New Year everytime they met someone in the dark. For a toast we had a French wine chosen by our French friend. The way home wasn’t the quickiest… But the city was full of (more or less) happy (more or less) dressed people. I, having a warm winter jacket, felt like an ice lolly next to the tough English girls in short and sleeveless dresses. Yeah, it was 10 °C, but who cares? It was winter for god’s sake!
What we saw this time? We wandered a lot around Millenium Bridge, St Paul, Tower of London and Tower Bridge. We went to Highgate Cemetery and museums – V&A Childhood Museum, The Geffrye Museum of the Home, Natural History Museum, Imperial War Museum; also to Harrods, Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park and Tate Modern. We both saw The Danish Girl, Jiří also Star Wars Ep 7. We ate at Borough Market (Pieminister, Scotchtails, Soul food), Old Spitalfields Market (Poppie’s Fish&Chips – probably the best we had so far, Bleecker St Burger, Café Carribean – awesome BBQ chicken, Pink Grapefruit – smoothies and lemonades; ethiopian vegan&chicken combo), and Camden Lock Market (Cupcake and Shhht!; beef bourguignon burger, corn flat bread with meat and plantain chips, burrito). Also in Pret and some little cafés, pubs, bistros and fast foods.
Highgate Cemetery
Camden Lock Market
In the new year we had just few more days in the UK. I planned a trip to Brighton to make the most of it. Cats and dogs! That day was rainy and windy as hell. We found a shelter at Coffee @ 33 (take a look at their little roaster that smells amazingly), Small Batch Coffee Company (with a lovely coffee) and The Cow pub (very tasty burger and ginger beer but the service wasn’t… well… the best one). Well we enjoyed the desolate beach and fresh sea breeze, winsome… eh loosesome coin pushers and hearty smell of goodies.
Brighton Pier
What else? You can buy cold&flu treatments in any supermarket or drugstore if you’re older than 16. Tasty sandwiches for a price of one Primark t-shirt are everywhere. Ready to eat meals are pretty good, trust me – I’m a food blooger, just be careful and buy the right stuff. Try custard tarts and trifle. Don’t drink coffee at Starbucks and Costa, use only their toilets (if you’re not as ashamed as I always am). Go for a beer to a pub. Be aware they close around midnight. Eat at markets. Drink enough cuppa, because tea makes everything better. Don’t care about weather, buy an umbrella. It’ll rain. Travelling is awesome, this year’s gonna be awesome, be awesome too!
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